


Final Exams

by Catheeso



Series: BNHA AU [8]
Category: CJMind, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Enemies to Friends, Fight Scenes, Final Exams, Gen, Kinda split into two parts???, Overuse of italics, dont know what else to tag, explained in next fic ;), fighting aizawa is Not Fun, ofa is no longer a mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:14:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26835775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catheeso/pseuds/Catheeso
Summary: It’s the final exams! Getting into an argument with a classmate and fighting...our teachers?
Series: BNHA AU [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1883536





	1. Monoma’s an Asshole

“Alright: show of hands, who studied?” Lara asked. Nobody raised their hands. Lara groaned and facepalmed. 

“In my defense, I was fighting the hero killer,” Carter said.

Lara shot him a glare. “I was fighting him, too, dumbass.”

Carter frowned and crossed his arms. 

“I’m top of the class, I don’t need to study,” Kali said easily, not looking up from the book she was reading. 

“What about the practical exam?” Destiny asked.

“I’m using CJ as a meat shield.”

“I’ll use _you_ like...uh, wait.” Carter tried to retort, quickly realizing what he was trying to say didn’t make sense. Bre snickered, not even trying to hide her amusement.

“I’m fully prepared for my death,” Kimi nodded solemnly. 

It was only a week before final exams and it had only just hit Carter that the semester is pretty much over. They were gonna be second-years soon. They’ll be in Class 2-A, picking fun at the terrible first-years running around. 

He was, honestly, looking forward to summer break. No school and better yet, he had friends this time around! He could actually hang out with people during the summer! Not to mention the fact that even the teachers (excluding Aizawa) had been more relaxed. Sure, they gave them more homework, but other than that, they’ve been more relaxed in class.

But before summer break can fully start, they have to wait for this semester to end, which means final exams. Not only is he terrified of the written exam, having not studied, no one knows what the practical exams are gonna be. 

He was well aware of his place in the class. He wasn’t in the top five, but he wasn’t dumb. Kali’s number one through some sort of black magic, he’s sure. He’s pretty sure he’s never seen her even pick up one of their textbooks. Lara and, surprisingly, Bre are also in the top five. 

But there was also the training camp Aizawa was gonna make them go to, and Carter was damned if he let that ruin his summer. After all, surely being in close quarters with his friends will be kinda like a sleepover? He’s not really sure considering he’s never had a sleepover before.

But for now, he needs to worry about Aizawa and his death exams. 

“Do you think that I could drop out of U.A.?” Carter mumbled.

“You could but I’d never let you live it down. I know where you live,” Bre smiled.

“Wait how do you know where I live?” Carter asked incredulously. File _that_ under things Bre should not know, which is a surprising amount.

“I’m not helping you guys study,” Kali said.

“Kali,” Kimi whined, flopping onto Kali’s desk. “C’mon, please?”

“Are we just gonna ignore that Bre knows where I live?”

“I could help you guys study,” Bre offered. 

“Bre, you’re a godsend,” Destiny giggled. 

“Guys!”

The whole group, including Lara, burst out laughing. Carter found himself laughing as well, just pushing that issue aside for later. They made their way to the lunchroom, talking and laughing.

Carter was happy that Lara chose to hang out with them more often, it was really nice. She always looked lonely before.

The lunchroom was packed, as usual, but Carter found eyes watching their group. It would take a little while longer before they go back to their normal routines, Carter convinced himself. 

Ever since the hero killer, people had been staring. He wasn’t upset that people knew about what he had done, but he just wished that it would go back to normal by now. Bre also seemed uncomfortable with all the attention, although mostly because it reminded her of how she had ‘failed’. 

“The written test shouldn’t be the worst,” Carter said as he sat down with his food. “I mean, we learned all of it in class. But nobody really knows what the practicals are.”

“Knowing U.A., they’ll probably go overboard,” Destiny pointed out. 

“Yeah, not to mention the fact that some of us have fought actual villains,” Kimi said. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Bre shrugged. “I can’t imagine they’ll be putting us in actual danger, though. Probably just going over what we’ve learned from Aizawa and All Might.”

“Has All Might even taught us anything?” Kali scoffed.

“I’m sure he’s doing his best,” Lara laughed nervously. 

“If his best is dogshit, then-“

Carter didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence before an elbow rammed into his head. He yelped and just narrowly avoided driving his face into his rice, touching the back of his head with his hand. First of all, ow. Second, what the fuck?

“Ah, sorry,” a plain-looking boy apologized, although he didn’t seem like he was sorry. Monoma from Class 1-B. “My tray just couldn’t get around that big head of yours.”

“Dude, what the hell?” Bre protested. 

“I heard you guys fought hero killer and won. Tch, as if! I bet you wanted all the glory to yourself. I guess the Sports Festival wasn’t enough. You just keep getting attention with one stunt after another, huh, Class A? But now it’s looking like that attention isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. It’s starting to get dangerous, right?”

Carter fidgeted in his seat. Kali sent him one of her best death glares, but he seemed too caught up with his speech to notice. 

“Pretty scary! I’m just worried that, one of these days, we’re all gonna get caught up in some of your antics! Scary-“

It was Monoma’s turn to get cut off as a girl with ginger hair, looking kind of similar to Lily, whacked him over the head. Monoma fell over, limp. Did she just knock him out? Sick.

“That’s not funny, Monoma,” Kendo scolded, setting his tray down. “Didn’t you hear what happened to Bre? Plus, they did _win_.”

She turned to them. “Sorry, Class A. This guy, his heart’s just, well...anyways, I overheard you guys talking. Saying you’re not sure about the practical exam. Between you and me, I hear it’ll be a battle against robots, like in the entrance exam.”

“Isn’t that a little, uh, basic?” Destiny asked. 

“We did that for both the entrance exam and during the Sports Festival,” Lara added. 

“An older student told me, a little unfair, I know,” Kendo said. 

“Sure, but you’re also using it to help people, so who really cares? Not me,” Kimi grinned lazily. 

“Kendo, you fool, we finally had an intel advantage over them! This was our chance to show up the detestable Class A!” Monoma hissed. Carter blinked, so he wasn’t dead. Shame. 

“They’re not detestable,” Kendo sighed, dragging him away from the table, back towards their classmates. “Good luck!”

“Uh, you too!” Carter called back. Bre raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged. Hey, she had put Monoma in his place. She at least deserved some thanks. 

Robots, huh? Shouldn’t be _that_ hard.


	2. Amelia’s Also an Asshole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little bit. Kind of. Maybe.

“I am going to skin her alive,” Carter fumed, pacing in the hallway as his hands twitched. “I’m going to flay her and stick her into a washing machine and- _ugh_!”

Kali watched him with a deadpan expression, not impressed with his uncharacteristic display of anger. He got irritated, sure, but not so angry he’s making real death threats.

“Who does she think she is?” Carter shouted, feeling the thorn bush tighten in his chest. He was shaking, he realized. That was probably bad.

“CJ, calm down,” Kali said. “You’re going to freak out.”

“I am perfectly calm!” Carter snapped, resuming his pacing. He needed to do something to get his energy out. Preferably hitting something. Or someone. “I should track her down and punch her in the face!”

“I’m not disagreeing with you,” Kali replied calmly, walking up to him. “But you need to take a deep breath. You’re panicking.” 

She put a hand on his shoulder, trying to ground him, probably, but all he can think of is how badly his skin itches and how his glitches boil furiously under his skin, scratching restlessly. He smacked her hand away roughly and teleported to the end of the hallway, ignoring Kali’s protest.

He knew that, logically, _he_ should be the one apologizing Amelia and that he really should chill out. He was the one who took the bait that he normally had patience for. But she just makes him so mad!

When he had complained about Monoma to the class before class started, Amelia had made some snide remark about him deserving it. He had mocked her back with an angry insult and an argument had dissolved from there. Both Connor and Lara stepped in before it could quickly turn south, Carter being led out of the room by Kali and Amelia getting sat down by Connor. 

Carter struggled to take in a deep breath, trying to see past the red hot anger. Bre once joked that since he didn’t get mad often, he needed an explosive release for it. 

“Carter!” Kali snapped, suddenly appearing next to him. “Chill the fuck out or I’m getting a teacher.” 

His chest hurt but he managed to take in a deep breath, feeling the thorn bush uncoil ever so slightly. “I’m sorry- it’s just-“

“You don’t have to apologize,” Kali told him, not touching him. For that, he was grateful. “Take a few more breaths without hyperventilating and then we’re gonna go back so Bre doesn’t track us down and yell at you.” 

“She’s still gonna yell at me no matter what,” Carter snorted bitterly. Kali huffed and rolled her eyes. 

“Just breath, dumbass.”

“Why does everyone call me that?”

“Because you’re an idiot.”

Carter laughed quietly, feeling his mood slightly improve. Even Kali was smiling. He could still feel the faint irritation in the back of his mind and he knew that something small could set him off, but he just wanted to enjoy this moment as it was. 

He felt strangely exhausted. He doesn’t ‘explode’ often so he never gets used to the tired feeling after. Or maybe that was thanks to the hyperventilating. 

“You ready to head back?” Kali asked, shoving her hands into her pant pockets. 

“Isn’t school pretty much over?” He asked back, looking at the clock in the hallway. “Are they seriously waiting at the front entrance?”

“Probably,” Kali shrugged. “Seems like something they would do.” 

“We should probably grab our bags,” Carter mumbled.

“Destiny texted me, they have both,” Kali replied, holding up her phone. Carter frowned but followed Kali to the front entrance anyways. He was really looking forward to just collapsing on his bed when he got home. Maybe Mom could make some spaghetti? That’d be nice. 

Destiny handed him his messenger bag with a concerned smile. He smiled tightly back. She took a step away from him afterward and he mentally thanked her. He’s fine with people touching him most days but sometimes it just got too much. It was hard to explain. 

But he pushed Amelia out his head and settled with making small talk with his friends as they walked home.

~~~

Studying for the written exam was tiring. Kali had relented under their relentless pursuit and eventually started helping them study. Carter started regretting it when she pulled him aside and gave him actual homework with a terrifying grin. When he told Bre about that she had laughed so hard she couldn’t breathe and Kimi had to give her a couple slaps on the back.

The days of the written exam were actually less stressful then he expected. The panic had been constant the days leading up and when he actually sat down to do the test it had all left, his focus on the paper in front of him. He supposed he should be happy it didn’t affect him during the test. That could’ve been bad.

It was significantly harder than midterms, that’s for sure, but he remembered basically all of the information Kali had drilled into his head, so he wasn’t confident per se, but he was feeling slightly hopeful.

While everybody else looked like they were on the verge of a nervous breakdown, including him, Kali looked like it was a normal Tuesday. Which is how she looked almost all the time, but it was a rock he could hold onto when panic bubbled up. 

He gravitated towards her during the lunches and was rewarded by sarcastic comments that he could latch onto to shoo the panic away. If Kali noticed him paying closer attention to his words, she didn’t say anything. Or she just didn’t care. It was hard to tell with her.

They were also no-touch days he realized. Bre had poked him on the shoulder the first day and he had freaked out. Bre recognized this and took a step back. His friends made sure not to touch him the entire day.

“You guys are the best,” he told them softly at the end of the three days when the tests were over. 

“I know I am,” Kimi smirked. The whole group laughed. 

Now, all he had to worry about was the practical exam. It shouldn’t be too hard.

Right?


	3. Uh Oh, UH OH

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fighting the teachers with your worst enemy is a setup for disaster.

Carter smoothed out his hoodie nervously, trying to stop from bouncing on his feet. His friends were next to him in their hero costumes, as well. Kimi toyed with their cape, Kali messed with her gloves, and Bre kept clicking her feet like she was a second away from popping out her roller skates and just skating away. Destiny and Lara were on his other side, also fidgeting. 

“Let’s begin our practical exam,” Aizawa said. “It is, of course, possible to fail this exam. If you want to attend the training camp, then don’t mess this up.”

“Well, that’s positive,” Cyrus muttered. 

“Why are there so many teachers here?” Ethan asked.

“Knowing you guys, you probably asked around and you might think you have a _vague_ idea of how this’ll go,” Aizawa shrugged. 

“We’re fighting robots!” Liam blurted. 

“Our training camp is gonna be awesome!” Lily cheered.

“Not quite!” Nezu exclaimed, popping out of Aizawa’s capture scarf. Carter jumped, had he been in there the entire time? “Various circumstances have demanded a revision to the exam format!”

“A revision?” Ava murmured. 

“Well, you see,” Nezu said, using Aizawa’s scarf to lower himself down to the ground, “from now on, we’ll focus on battles against flesh-and-blood opponents. It is critical that our teaching simulates practical experience as closely as possible! As such, you students will be pairing up and fighting one of the teachers you see here!”

That’s it, Carter’s officially dead. His teachers are gonna kick his ass for his hubris. The rest of the class looked suitably shocked and he’s pretty sure he just saw the life drain from Owen’s eyes. 

“Your pairings and assigned teacher have already been decided. Your battle moves, your grades, your friendships with one another, all these factors, and more were considered, so without further ado, first is Carter with Amelia.”

“Against me,” Aizawa finished, grinning.

Carter’s heart sank. He’s not going to the training camp, he knew it. There was no way he was gonna win this, especially with _her_. He glanced over at Amelia and saw her face screwed up with disgust. He looked away before she could see him staring.

Aizawa continued to list off who was fighting who, and who they were fighting with. Some people got good pairings. There wasn’t much they could do to the teachers, but their partners were good.

Destiny was with Kacey against Cementoss, Peter and Liam against Nezu, Kali and Cyrus against Ectoplasm, Bre and Lily against Thirteen, Lara and Charlie against Present Mic, Ethan and Owen against Midnight, Kimi and Connor against Snipe, and, finally, Ava and Carmen against All Might. Power Loader was there for moral support since there were only eighteen students. 

“The stages have been prepared and all teams will begin simultaneously. The test guidelines will be explained by your respective opponents. None of the areas are outside school grounds, but let’s not waste any more time. Get going.”

Aizawa stayed still as the rest of their class walked away, following their teachers/opponents until only Carter and Amelia were left with him. He led them to a bus. Carter took a seat near the front and Amelia scowled at him, taking a seat on the other side of the bus. Carter fought the urge to stick his tongue out at her. 

“I’ll be frank with you,” Aizawa said suddenly. “I chose you two to pair up because of your attitude towards each other. You both have potential, but you’re letting pettiness get in the way.”

Carter frowned but didn’t reply. It’s not like he chose to not like Amelia. She was the first to be nasty, he was simply giving her the same treatment. _That could be part of the problem._

The bus slowed down to a stop, Aizawa climbing out. He hesitated for a second before following his teacher, Amelia trailing a little bit behind, looking like she ate something sour. 

Aizawa stopped in front of a big metal gate, just like the one in Field Gamma. 

“The time limit is thirty minutes,” Aizawa said flatly. “Your objective is to either get these handcuffs on me or have one of you escape from the stage.”

“Like our battle training?” Carter asked.

Aizawa nodded. “It’s always smart to run away when the enemy is stronger than you.” He shot a glare at Carter. That was probably warranted. 

“This test is meant to simulate true battles as close as possible. So think of us as actual villains. If you find yourself overwhelmed by my power, fleeing and calling for help might be your wisest option. 

“All the teachers have ultra-compressed weights on their ankles and wrists. It’s meant to weigh us down so that we’re on your level. Don’t underestimate us, though. We’ll be giving it our all to crush you.”

“Cheerful,” Amelia said dryly.

Aizawa’s eyes flickered between the two of them briefly, like he was trying to decide what to do next. 

Aizawa was a strong opponent. He was a pro for a reason. The USJ had taught him that. His quirk was also incredibly strong, especially against two fourteen-year-olds who rely almost exclusively on their quirks.

Carter wasn’t at as much of a disadvantage, considering he knew a fair bit of martial arts and had to defend himself against kids who were at least two times bigger than him. He wasn’t afraid to break noses in order to get away from bullies. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to break Aizawa’s nose. That would be either hilarious or terribly embarrassing. 

Amelia relied solely on Andy to win fights, as shown by the Sports Festival. To win, he would need to, ugh, work with her. And he needed to win. He needed to go to that training camp. Not only to get better at using his quirk but to also not be the odd one out. He was gonna spend this summer with his friends, dammit. 

He glanced at her. She had her mouth set in a firm line. This was gonna be very hard. For both of them.


	4. Bait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe they can make this work?

The urban city was intimidating. It was rows and rows of houses with narrow alleyways, the sun clear and hot with the warning of summer. It reminded him a little too much of Stain. 

Aizawa had gone in a little under eight minutes ago, the big metal gates creaking open soon after. Amelia was ahead of him, leading the way through the twisting alleyways. 

“Aizawa’s best when he’s able to catch you by surprise,” Carter said aloud. “So that means we should probably stick close to where there are no hiding spots.”

“He’s also good at fighting in open spaces,” Amelia shot back. “Not everyone is like the hero killer, you saw how he was at the USJ.”

Carter gritted his teeth to keep from saying something else, knowing that was a pitfall that’d get them nowhere. He shivered as they entered another alleyway, steering clear of the dark green dumpster even though he knew it was only a prop. There wouldn’t be any blood on it from where the hero killer fell, there wouldn’t be any rope in it. There were no hidden knives, no injured pro heroes, just _empty_ alleyways. 

If Amelia noticed him walking clearly around the dumpster, she said nothing. 

“We need to make a plan,” he said, finally. “We can’t just wing this.”

“I do have a plan,” Amelia replied. Andy beeped next to her. “You’re bait.”

“Bait?!” Carter protested loudly. He lowered his voice, “what do you mean?”

“Keep your voice down,” Amelia growled, not turning to face him. She paused at the edge of a corner, Andy beeping more hurriedly. “You draw him out and keep him distracted while I run to the gate.”

“Why don’t I just teleport us to the gate? Why am _I_ the bait?” Carter asked.

“Aizawa’s probably waiting at the gate because he knows that you can teleport. The instant you teleport, you’ll get caught in his capture scarf. He won’t be expecting me to be the runner.”

Amelia was probably right, as much as he hated to admit it. Aizawa would be expecting him to be the one who flees considering his quirk is best suited for that. Amelia being the one to run gives them the element of surprise. Of course, they can’t really surprise a pro hero, but it might be enough to win.

“That still doesn’t explain how we find him in the first place. How do we know that he isn’t watching us right now? He could just be choosing not to turn our quirks off,” he said. 

“Andy would tell me if he was near,” Amelia answered. “Just go out and make some noise. Don’t make it obvious you’re trying to lure him out.”

Carter frowned, thinking. How would he make it obvious he was somewhere while not making it obvious he was baiting Aizawa? Aizawa was their teacher, he probably knew every trick in the book. 

“Hit me.”

“What?” Amelia asked, turning to face him.

“Hit me. Break my nose. Give me a black eye. Just slap me or something. If I wander off and blow up some shit when I obviously have an injury he didn’t give me, he’ll think we fought,” Carter explained. “It makes sense for the two of us. He probably wouldn’t doubt it.”

Amelia hesitated. She studied him, her eyes clouded. He couldn’t tell what was going on in her head, but their arguments had never gotten physical. Sure, he had wanted to hit her a couple times, but he had never gone through. She was hesitating because she didn’t want to physically hurt him. 

“Amelia, this could be our only chance,” he pressed. Amelia looked away at the street the alleyway led to. 

Then, she drew her arm back and punched in the face. 

He hit the ground breathlessly, his cheek aching. Man, her right hook hurts. His cheek ached, but he grinned. This would help. 

“Your cheek is red,” Amelia said helpfully, a tinge of guilt in her voice. “Does it hurt?”

“Yeah, your leather gloves definitely hurt,” Carter replied, pushing himself up and rubbing his cheek. “Win this for us. Don’t make that killer smack worth nothing.”

“If you get your ass kicked by Aizawa, it’s your fault,” Amelia shrugged. This time she didn’t hesitate before sprinting off into the dark alleyways, leaving him alone with his throbbing cheek and half-baked plan. Well, not half-baked. More like three-fourths baked. Just needed ten more minutes in the oven. 

He allowed the fake frustration to build up in his chest, the artificial anger tightening his throat. It was easy to get angry at this point. At least, it was easy to fake being angry. A lot of shitty things had happened recently. Anaya, Bre’s helplessness that turned into a murderous rage, Amelia’s awful attitude, Monoma, Amelia again. The fact that they probably weren’t gonna win this because they’re fighting their teacher. A lot of stuff to be angry at. 

Before he even realized it, a clump of pixels exploded out of his hand. He made a strangled sound of surprise as he went flying back into the open street. Well, he didn’t expect that.

“Ow…” he groaned, sitting up and rubbing the palm of his hand. That had never happened before. Actually, that might’ve happened before, he just didn’t remember it. 

“Fuck you, Amelia!” He shouted for good measure. “You’re an asshole!”

Grumbling to himself, he pushed himself into a standing position and looked around. The street was empty, but there were a lot of places Aizawa could pop out from. He formed his face into a scowl, pretending that he was looking for Amelia. 

Carter is, admittedly, not very good at much. He’s not that athletic and he doesn’t study the hardest out of everyone. He can’t organize stuff and he can’t handle loud noises. So yeah, he’s not that good at a lot of things. But one thing he is good at is lying and acting. He’s lied to his teachers for years and played the part while at it. He knows how to be convincing. 

Of course, Amelia probably didn’t know that. She probably just wanted to drop-kick him to the curb and book it. He really didn’t care, he wanted to do the same thing, but little victories. 

Which is also why he wasn’t that surprised when Aizawa’s capture scarf suddenly yanked onto his arm and pulled him forward. Carter yelped and immediately went limp, allowing him to duck under Aizawa’s punch and momentarily untangle from his scarf.

“You split up,” Aizawa said flatly, his hair floating. Carter experimentally tested his quirk. The pixels were still there, scratching against his skin, but they wouldn’t leave, just like when he was paralyzed by Stain. Okay, he’s fighting this alone. 

“She was being a bitch,” Carter spat. “She hit me! I can win this without her.” 

Aizawa glanced over to the darkening bruise on his cheek and said nothing, but his frown deepened. He was probably thinking about how to discipline them after this. Not that he needed to, considering this was the plan, but he didn’t know that. 

Carter lunged at Aizawa. He didn’t need to actually win this fight, he just needed to stall for time. Stall, stall, stall. Just like Stain. He needed to stall because Miruko was going to come any second now and he needed to save Bre-

Carter jerked back as his throat became tight, but not with anger. Where did those thoughts come from? The hero killer thing- it’s over. He and Lara saved Bre. Miruko came. He’s fighting Aizawa now, not Stain. He faltered as he tried to get his stolen breaths back, his mind and heart racing. He’s not in Hosu. It’s been weeks. _He’s not in Hosu_. He can still feel the phantom pain of talons sinking into his side. 

Aizawa swept his legs out from under him. “You’re distracted,” Aizawa told him. “You’re panicking.”

“A little bit, yeah.”

Aizawa blinked. 

Carter teleported behind him and kicked him in the back. Aizawa whipped around and threw out his capture scarf. Carter immediately became tangled once more with no means of escaping. 

That was okay because that was just before footsteps thudded behind Aizawa and Amelia darted out of the shadows, which wasn’t the plan. Aizawa turned around once more to dodge Amelia’s kick to the head. Carter glitched and grabbed the handcuffs from Amelia’s outstretched hand as she skidded, glitching back right before Aizawa’s capture scarf grabbed Amelia, and snapped them onto Aizawa’s wrist. 

The buzzer rang. They won. 


	5. Enemies to Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A long overdue talk.

Overall, it took them fifteen minutes to win. Half of that was spent just trying to come up with a plan. The other half was spent trying to lure and fight Aizawa. 

“He went easy on us,” Amelia said as they next to each other on the curb. “He could’ve won that fight.”

“Yeah, probably,” Carter agreed. “Although we didn’t do too bad. Sorry for making you punch me.”

“You’re apologizing?” Amelia asked incredulously. “I’m the one who punched you.”

“But you didn’t want to. Admit it, you didn’t wanna hit me,” Carter grinned, elbowing her in the side. Amelia huffed and pushed him away. It was a touching day. 

“You’re annoying,” Amelia grumbled, a ghost of a smile on her face. “Leave me alone.”

Carter leaned back until his back hit the pavement. Amelia mirrored this. They were waiting for everybody else to finish. They were one of the first teams done, along with Kali’s and Liam’s, for different reasons. Kali and Cyrus managed to win by handcuffing Ectoplasm. Liam and Peter lost against Nezu. 

Kimi and Connor won their match against Snipe soon after by escaping, shortly followed by a win from Destiny and Kacey. 

Carter had moved outside, Amelia eventually joining him. They had sat in silence before making small talk. Carter didn’t quite know what to think of Amelia by now. She saved his ass during the exam instead of ditching him like he expected her to, and she even apologized for punching him.

“Why did you come back?” He asked quietly. A buzzer rang out.

“Hm?”

“Why’d you come back? You could’ve left me and won by escaping. Why?”

Amelia said nothing. He looked over and saw her rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands, not looking away from the cloudless sky. He waited patiently for her to compose herself. 

“I kept thinking about the USJ,” Amelia answered softly. “Aizawa, he almost died. A-and you, you instantly ran towards the danger. You immediately tried to go and help while I did nothing. You almost _died_ because _I_ froze. I couldn’t help anyone.”

Amelia let out a shaky laugh. “In a way, I admired you. It’s funny, because I hated you so much for it. I saw you in the hospital and thought it was my fault. And then I-I got angry. I hated you for being brave.”

“I didn’t feel brave,” Carter replied. “I felt scared and, um, I didn’t really know what I was doing. I just wanted to help? I don’t know.”

“I lashed out.” Amelia sat up, ignoring the frantic beeping of Andy. Carter stayed where he was. The sun was harsh and he could feel the cooling system in his hero costume working overtime. Warmth was washing his face. It felt nice. Hopefully, he didn’t get a sunburn.

“Maybe, but so did I,” Carter shrugged. It was an awkward shrug. “I took the bait. I was equally as bitchy to you as you were to me. Maybe we’re both to blame.”

“I initiated most of the fights. It’s not your fault.”

“Look at us, brooding over past arguments. We’re like a couple of sad angsty teens,” Carter chuckled, pushing himself up. Another buzzer rang out in the distance. 

“We’re both angsty teenagers, Carter. You have an emo haircut and wear black. I don’t think you get to make fun of this,” Amelia retorted playfully, the normally sharp edge of her tone gone. It felt like the razor-sharp edge just disappeared. It was almost weird.

Two buzzers rang out simultaneously. Carter perked up. 

“You should go check up on your friends,” Amelia nudged him. “I know you’re waiting for one of them to come out here for you.”

“What about Connor? I clearly remember you getting all buddy-buddy with Connor during the Sports Festival. Not to mention that he’s the one who calmed you down when we had that fight. Sounds to me like you have a _friend_ ,” Carter teased. 

“Alright, shove off,” Amelia said flatly, pushing him away more forcefully than before. “Go bother someone else.”

He laughed and stumbled up. She shooed him away with a fake scowl and he waved goodbye. The walk into the building made him feel lighter than before. A buzzer rang. He sped up.

Inside the main room with the cameras, a bunch of his classmates were gathered there. Kali, Bre, and Destiny were all gathered in a corner off to the side, chatting. He walked over as Kali looked up. 

“Oh, there’s boy wonder!” Bre cheered. “Look at him, mister teacher-defeater.” 

“Don’t be mean to me, I just finally managed to make friends with Amelia. I’m basically on drugs right now,” Carter grinned. 

“Amelia?” Destiny frowned. “Didn’t she just make you panic like, yesterday? Are you sure?”

“We had a little chat while laying down on the sidewalk. We basically had an existential crisis together. It was calming.”

All three of them looked at him like he was crazy. Which, he could deal with. 

Hey, it’s one more friend, after all.


End file.
